Variety Of Sound ThrillseekerLA User manual

ThrillseekerLA
M A N U A L
revision 1.0

Content
Chapter 1: Introduction 5
1.1. License ....................................................................................... 5
1.2. Installation ................................................................................... 6
1.3. Overarching topics .......................................................................... 6
1.4. Credits ....................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2: Overview 7
2.1. At a glance ................................................................................... 7
2.2. Re erence .................................................................................... 8
Main parameters ................................................................................ 8
The interstage section ........................................................................... 9
2.3. Basic work low ............................................................................ 10
2.4. Tracking and mixing ...................................................................... 11
2.5. On the stereo bus .......................................................................... 11
2.6. About SC linking .......................................................................... 11
2.7. Leveling and gain riding .................................................................. 12
Chapter 3: Addendum 13
3.1. About state ul saturation .................................................................. 13
3.2. Updates and urther in ormation ......................................................... 13

1Introduction
1.1. License
Copyright (C) 2012 by H. L. Goldberg.
The contained software is given to se nder a freeware license.
This software is provided free of charge b t the a thor retains copyright.
Yo are not allowed to make any copies or redistrib te this software incl ding b t not
limited to making the software available for download or making this software part of
a software CD compilation.
Yo are not allowed to sell or to rent this software. Yo are not allowed to reverse
engineer this software.
Yo are allowed to se this software for any artistic application incl ding commercial
m sic prod ction.
This software is provided 'as-is', witho t any express or implied warranty. In no event
will the a thor be held liable for any damages arising from the se of this software.
'VST' is a Technology and Trademark by Steinberg.
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1 Introduction
1.2. Installation
Req irements:
●Win32 compatible system with SSE2 (or higher) instr ction set s pport
●Tested and known to work in many VST compatible hosts
P t the DLL file contained in this archive in the VST pl g-in folder of yo r host.
1.3. Overarching topics
Warning: Lower yo r listening vol me while operating the pl g-in to avoid hearing
damage or damage of speakers or any other eq ipment.
Note: The pl g-in contains a dedicated on/off switch (labeled 'ON') which m st be
powered on to r n the mod le. It's a tr e bypass when switched off.
Usage tips:
●Use the 'ON' switch to toggle the pl g-in on/off for A/B comparisons
●Use <ctrl> + mo se left click on a knob or switch to restore defa lt position
●Use <shift> + mo se left click on a knob to fine adj st val es
●Use this pl g-in as an insert effect in any (mono or stereo) channel of yo r
VST host
●Feed a separate a dio signal into channel 3 and 4 of this pl g-in to enable
triggering the compressor by an external sidechain signal.
1.4. Credits
Thanks to Patrick Barca for contrib ting his o t-standing UI artwork again!
Special thanks to “Andrew J” as well as to “Tor / www.a dioteknikk.net” for sharing
ideas, insights and DSP schematics!
And many thanks to all the beta testers of co rse.
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2Overview
2.1. At a glance
ThrillseekerLA – limiting and leveling amplifier
ThrillseekerLA is a digital stereo leveling amplifier with tr ly analog q alities. It not
only offers highly program dependent and m sical so nding compression behavior
b t also implements a sophisticated non-linear amplifier stage based pon an acc r-
ate statef l non-linear model. Both complement each other perfectly and this way the
device is capable of re-creating a variety of “opto-electrical” compression character-
istics b t is also adding the weight and dimension we typically associate with an
excellent analog a dio signal path which is so m ch so ght after.
This technical design was chosen to offer both q alities in combination: The com-
pressor circ it itself avoids distortion in all cases and there is virt ally no inter-mod -
lation distortion, res lting in a way smooth and artifact free gain riding experience.
Instead, harmonically related distortion prod cts can be dialed in to taste with the
compressor interstage model. This harmonics generator is based on a non-linearity
with memory which enables creamy signal coloration d ties. Processed a dio
becomes alive and vibrant and the s btle detail in depth and spatial imaging is the
icing on top.
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2 Overview
2.2. Reference
Main para eters
MIX LEVEL – If the DAW mixing process is performed at -18dB this option allows to
adj st the pl g-ins internal gain staging accordingly.
SC FILTER – This sidechain filter is modeled after a well known hardware nit and
atten ates low freq encies while boosting the HF department at the same time.
SC ROUTE – In position “EXT” this allows external sidechain access by obtaining the
sidechain a dio information from channel 3 and 4. In position “INT” the main chan-
nels (1 and 2) are sed.
INPUT – A plain linear inp t amplification control.
ATTACK – The compressor's envelope attack time control: The timing is program
dependent and the displayed val es are j st ro gh indications.
RELEASE – The compressor's envelope release time control: The timing is highly
program dependent and the displayed val es are j st ro gh indications.
IN-GR-OUT – Selects the operation mode for the metering display right in the center.
IN grabs the signal after the INPUT dial, OUT after the OUTPUT dial and in GR posi-
tion it displays the amo nt of gain red ction achieved by the compressor.
SC LOCUT – A gentle one pole (6dB per octave) low c t filter in the sidechain path.
This one is always in at 20Hz to remove DC content from the sidechain b t high-
pass filtering p to 500Hz can be dialed in.
RANGE – This limits the amo nt of gain red ction by shaping the compression trans-
fer c rve. In leftmost position the transfer c rve appears plain linear (and therefore
no gain red ction is comp ted at all). T rning it clockwise seamlessly dials in more
and more compression amo nts.
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Re erence
OUTPUT – A plain linear o tp t amplification control.
ON – A tr e bypass switch in (when in off mode).
The interstage section
INTERSTAGE - This activates the interstage section of the compressor which is a
sophisticated non-linear amplifier stage. It is based on a statef l non-linear model
which provides very smooth so nding harmonic distortion. J st t rning this on
already injects a leading 2nd order harmonic which dynamically responds to the gain
red ction performance of the compressor.
If engaged, f rther more and detailed control is nveiled with the parameter set at
the bottom of the interface. This lets yo control f rther odd harmonic distortion
amo nts and to set the foc s of the distortion to f ll spectr m or j st to parts of the
freq ency spectr m. Therefore, this is a powerf l coloring tool which allows to obtain
a wide tonal variety within j st one single device. The nderlying technology goes
way beyond any static waveshaping approach, b t on the other hand, typical draw-
backs of e. g. dynamic convol tion based approaches - s ch as high latency and cp
cons mption – can be circ mvented.
Note: This interstage section does not sat rate in a conventional, strict
manner b t injects additional harmonic content. Nevertheless, the transi-
ent response of the a dio signal gets affected in a nice fashion.
SPECTRUM – this slider adj sts the spectral foc s of the distortion. Available
options are:
•FULL – F ll spectr m mode which covers almost the entire freq ency range.
•LF – A h ge emphasis of the low freq ency spectr m, great for changing the
bass tonality and other drastic effects.
•500 Hz – Harmonic emphasis is performed on the 500 Hz area which provides
a tonality which is sometimes referred to as increasing the perceived "warmth"
of a signal.
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2 Overview
•800+ Hz – This works mainly on the 800 to 1000 Hz range and can greatly
contrib te to the presence of bass instr ments.
•2-5 kHz – A great option to improve the presence and intelligibility of vocal
performances or even complete mixes by adding some nice sheen on top.
•HF – Performs nicely as a HF exciter on rather d ll so nding a dio or in a dio
restoration sit ations, as an example. It is capable of adding that “expensive
sheen” in the air band of a mix.
TRANSFORMER - sing transformers in an analog a dio signal path leads to some
effects where the co pling between the stages becomes freq ency dependent,
which is a work-load dependent effect in itself. This is exactly what the TRANS-
FORMER option does. It gives the applied distortion some welcome "weight" and a
freq ency dependent dynamic response which is typical for transformer co pled cir-
c its (e. g. vac m t be circ its). This effect is a dible only when the circ it act ally
creates THD.
The TRANSFORMER option also applies distinctive transformer style signal distor-
tions to the lower freq ency part but only in the SPECTRUM modes FULL, LF and
500 Hz”!
Important: To obtain the transformer based freq ency and load dependent
behavior the INTERSTAGE switch m st be IN. On top, there m st be
already total harmonic distortion (THD) a dible in order to hear that addi-
tional effect.
THD – This allows to adj st the odd harmonic content if the interstage is sed. A
level meter adds some vis al feedback on how new harmonics are dynamically intro-
d ced.
Note: harmonic content may already be added before vis al feedback
appears, especially if the SPECTRUM is foc sed on the higher freq en-
cies. The metering performance varies depending on the act al freq ency
content and the SPECTRUM settings.
2.3. Basic workflow
Always start with j st the compressor itself and not the interstage. Adj st attack and
release times j st like on any other compressor, note how the gain riding changes
when the inp t level increases (and therefore more gain red ction is applied). Adjust
both the timings and the input level until “it's there”. Always compensate the output
volume for best A/B test conditions.
Switch the interstage option in whenever some text re and additional color is
desired. Start with THD in left position to j st hear the 2nd order harmonic which is
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Basic work low
already introd ced now by the gain riding of the compressor. At very high GR
amo nts this can already be q ite prono nced, so se with care.
2.4. Tracking and ixing
Tracking and mixing might benefit from the ridic lo s fast timings which are offered
for the envelope comp tation b t special attention sho ld be spent on the overall
recovery behavior. Depending on the load in the circ it the recovery from gain red c-
tion slows down the more it comes to zero GR. The effect is similar to opto-electrical
panel based (vintage) gain red ction stages. Recovery can get really slow by this
effect and getting the most o t of s ch nits req ires to find their specific sweet spot
for any partic lar a dio material.
Tracking and mixing might benefit to a large extent from additional harmonic distor-
tions, especially the 2nd order one. For example, when managing rather diffic lt a dio
material s ch as aco stic bass or vocal recordings this can greatly improve defini-
tion. Also, don't forget the sidechain filtering options in s ch cases.
2.5. On the stereo bus
A q ick way to back p from too m ch compression amo nts is the RANGE control
option which can offer rather forgiving compression characteristics especially s itable
b t not limited to 2b s compression / program material. The c rve looses its com-
pression capability approaches zero at settings of ca. 20-30dB, very typical for some
retro compressors back in the past. In a modern compressor design a similar effect
is achieved with dynamic range limiting which allows to apply this in a rather con-
trolled fashion from 0 to 100%. The res lt is a very fancy compression experience
and allows to recover q ite easily from too m ch gain red ction amo nts.
2.6. About SC linking
Linking both channels in the sidechain path can be important on the stereo b s and
is handled in two different ways within ThrillseekerLA, internally. The sophisticated
linking algorithm maintains the nat ral transient response in the stereo field b t also
red ces problematic stereo image shifts in higher gain red ction scenarios.
In the compressor circ it, both channels are starting entirely nlinked ntil 1dB of
gain red ction is performed. Beyond that, both channels are getting grad ally more
linked as gain red ction increases. However, this process is tweaked to still allow
some fast transients to get thro gh witho t immediately affecting the other channel.
D ring the harmonic distortion generation of the interstage amplifier both channels
always remain nlinked (aka independent). The only link between both channels in
the harmonics generator is some slight freq ency dependent channel crosstalk,
which is excl sively a static affair.
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2 Overview
Note: A tr e d al mono mode is not s pported (two completely ncorrel-
ated signals on channel 1 and 2). However, since there is no two channel
parameter layo t offered in the interface this wo ld not makes sense any-
way.
2.7. Leveling and gain riding
To get the most o t of this device one sho ld nderstand that its gain riding charac-
teristics are highly dependent on the gain red ction amo nts which the nit can be
driven into. Therefore, finding the sweet spot in a specific compression sit ation
req ires seeking the best gain red ction range in the context of the attack and
release time behavior (which in ret rn is gain red ction dependent).
This opens a vast variety of applications ranging from gentle “fairchild style” b s
compression with j st 1-2dB of gain red ction p to dr m smashing at extreme gain
red ctions.
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3Addendu
3.1. About stateful saturation
[tbc]
3.2. Updates and further infor ation
Refer to my Blog at http://varietyofso nd.wordpress.com for some additional informa-
tion and pdates on this pl g-in or leave a note there if any iss es did occ r.
Peace,
Herbert
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